The Ultimate Guide to the Cartoons of the 1980s – Chapter 8: New Adventures of Beany and Cecil

Chapter 8: New Adventures of Beany and Cecil

Total Episodes: 5 (13 were produced but only 5 aired)
Episode Length: 22 minutes (Episode 2-5 contained 2-11 minute segments each)
First Air Date: September 10th, 1988
Final Air Date: October 8th, 1988
Day(s) Aired: Saturdays
Channel: ABC
Reboot/Spin-Off Data: Reboot of the 1962 series, Beany and Cecil
Based On: 1949 Puppet Show, Time for Beany

Creator: Bob Clampett
Developed By: John Kricfalusi
Producer: John Kricfalusi
Director:
William H. Frake III
Jim Smith
Bruce Timm
John Kricfalusi
Eddie Fitzgerald
Voice Director: Marsha Goodman
Writer(s):
George Atkins
Paul Dini
Rowby Goren
Wayne Kline
Chuck Lorre
Music: Shuki Levy & Haim Saban
Theme Song: Robert & Sody Clampett

Production Companies: DIC Animation

Component or Standalone: Standalone

What Came First?:
* Cartoon: 1988

Episode List: (Click HERE for Episode Guide)
Episode 1: The Framed Freep
Episode 2a: Radio with a Bite!
Episode 2b: The Brotherhood of B.L.E.C.H.
Episode 3a: The Bad Guy Flu!
Episode 3b: D.J.’s Disappearing Act
Episode 4a: Cecil Meets Clambo
Episode 4b: The Golden Menu
Episode 5: The Courtship of Cecilia

Main Cast:

Beany: Mark Hildreth

Cecil: Billy West

Captain Horatio Huffenpuff: Jim MacGeorge

Dishonest John: Maurice LaMarche

Supporting Cast

Billy West: Dentist, Pinocchio, Head Waitress, Clambo and others

Maurice LaMarche: King Muckamuck, Film Director and others

Cree Summer, Jane Mortifee and Laura Harris: All Female Roles

Princess Princess, Freep, Waitresses, Cecilia and others

Synopsis

In the New Adventures of Beany and Cecil we find ourselves along the ride with our heroes, Captain Horatio Huffenpuff, his nephew Beany and his friend the kind hearted sea serpent, Cecil. Typically, aboard the ship, the Leakin Lena, they travel to far off places and attempt to help out the various inhabitants. Waiting in the wings, is the opportunisitc, Dishonest John who is out to thwart their attempts or capitalize on their missions. A comedic series through and through, our stories not only contain the typical slapstick elements, one liners and bad puns we have come to expect from many similar cartoons but they also give us a heavy dose of pop culture references (long before we got used to it with the Simpsons and the Family Guy) and plenty of breaking down the 4th wall. Every episode starts with Beany and Cecil serenading the audience with a quick little jingle that sets up the episode and ends with a similar jingle that wraps up what we just watched.

Captain Huffenpuff, often refered to as ‘Uncle Captain’ by Beany is a seasoned military man who pilots our heroes ship, the Leakin Lena, along with his first mate, Crowy. Friends, Beany and Cecil take on the main protagonist roles whereas the Captain and Crowy are there more for comedic relief.  Dishonest John is a villain archetype very similar to Dick Dastardly or Snidely Whiplash. With his classic bad guy moustache and his trademark “Nyah ha ha” laugh that he uses at least once in every episode. John, or DJ, as they sometimes refer to him is always spying on the crew through a telescope of some kind or evesdropping on them as they discuss their various missions. Typically John will focus in on something he can steal, (The Golden Menu, An invaluable painting, diamonds, A Top Secret Box, Invisibility paint etc.) and that provides the loose framework for our story. The story will then be dressed up with catchy one liners, bad puns, plays on words, instances of breaking the 4th wall, or animation/writing jokes. There isn’t much backstory or development of any of the characters outside of the fact that we learn Dishonest John is a member of the Brotherhood of B.L.E.C.H., a bad guy organization and that Cecil has a love interest in Cecilia, a female sea serpent. As far as any recurring actions or items, we do get to see Beany use his ‘Beany Copter” (the helicopter on his hat) to aid in their adventures a handful of times. (This was much more prevalent in the prevoius Beany & Cecil incarnations and was a heavily marketed toy during those times as well).

Overall Breakdown:

In both the puppet show and the cartoon series before it, Bob Clampett wasn’t afraid to create something that would fly directly in the face of censorship. His propensity to poke fun at celebrities, hot topics of the time, or even his competition (Disney mostly) was something many other animators were either not equipped to do or simply not brash enough to do. Others, may have feared that doing so would have unnessarily dated the product. What John Krisfaluci (from Ren & Stimpy fame) gave us in the late eighties was suprisingly true to that tone and not nearly as watered down as one might expect, given the time. The series comes across as offering a bit more than the standard cartoon comedy fare.

Whether that was due to Krisfaluci or the team of writers involved is hard to tell. Krisfaluci, based on all reports was not an easy guy to work with and his work pace and obsession with perfection and control have been brought up by multiple people as being the main reasons why this series got the early hook. He butted heads with the studio on multiple occasions and fought tooth and nail to eliminate writers or editors from being anywhere near this project. One of his writers, Chuck Lorre, who touts a resume of writing on shows such as My Two Dads, Charles in Charge, Roseanne, Dharma and Greg, Grace Under Fire, Two & a Half Men and Big Bang Theory among others, left after working on two scripts due to Krisfaluci specifically. In retrospect, this becomes another case of if you fall in the camp that judges the art itself or the artist, as it would later be discovered that John Krisfaluci was guilty of having a sexual relationship with a young teenager as well as being accused of having a collection of child pornography.

It was a shame given the number of writers and directors involved that went on to do great things in the medium. Names such as Bruce Timm (who had his directing debut in this series), Paul Dini from Batman fame and Rowby Goren from the iconic Laugh-In series all contributed here. What this reboot series did not have going for it was the fact that many of the kids born in the 1980s really didn’t recognize or have any connection to the characters or the series overall. In a decade full of cartoons that had direct tie-ins to comic books, reading book or toylines, Beany and Cecil relied on a nostalgia that none of the kids shared. The animation style also didn’t help as it came across looking like it came from the same time period as the original in many ways. Granted, that may have been intentional but by the late 1980s the audience was accustomed to a much more commercial look. The series had potential but when the creator and the studio can’t get on the same page, it’s no surprise that after just 5 episodes, it was replaced with the likes of The Flintstone Kids.

Overall Show Score: 3/5

Behind the Scenes/Fun Trivia:

This series marked the voice acting debut of a number of folks including, Billy West who would go on to voice Ren & Stimpy, Dough and Philip J. Fry from Futurama among many, many other roles. Jane Mortifee and Laura Harris also made their debut in this series as did the 10-year old, Mark Hildreth. Jim MacGeorge who voiced the Captain in this series had also voiced that character as well as Beany in the original television series.

As stated above, this series loved to make pop-cultural references. This is evident in multiple episodes. You can already see in the credits listed above that one episode features Pinocchio in a significant role. This is fitting since Clampett often times took jabs at Disney wherever he could. We also see examples like the following, in one episode Dishonest John heads to Club Bad, a club for bad guys to hang out and we get a sequence that shows the likes of Dr. Doom, the Joker, Frankenstein’s monster, Red Skull, Doc Ock, Ming the Merciless, Darth Vader, Norman Bates and Leatherface.

In another episode we see Cecil summoning super powers and calling himself, “He-Serpent, Master of the Universe”

In yet another episode, we see what clearly is a Smurf Village with a handful of Smurfs circling a toadstool and singing.

Related Media/Merchandise:

Toys: Although toys and other merchandise existed alongside it’s predecessors in the 1950s and 1960s there was no real presence of such things during the course of this 1980s revival.